Golf
Golf was introduced to Rochester in 1895, with the Country Club of Rochester creating its 9-hole Thistle course that same year. Hiram Watson Sibley, J.G.’s uncle, and both his mother and step-father, Emily and James Sibley Watson, were described in the Democrat and Chronicle as early adopters of the game. J.G. must have been too, since by May 1897 he was listed as a substitute on the Harvard golf team. By September he played at Niagara-on-the-Lake in the 3rd Niagara International tournament open handicap, placing 3rd. J.G. continued to play golf at Harvard and with the Country Club. By 1900, J.G. was competing as an amateur on the national level, losing the championship to a distant relative, presiding champion Herbert M. Harriman of New York City.